(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new type of material, a fur-skin strip material, consisting of yarn-like fur-skin strips that retain the original fur (or hair) of the skin, and to the method for producing the same. The term "fur-skin" used herein means "a hairy-coated skin of a fur-bearing animal".
More specifically, this invention relates to a new material which is made by cutting only the leather side of a fur-skin into elongated yarn-like strips that retain the original fur (or hair) on the cut strips of leather and to the method for producing the same. This new material is suitable for the production of woven fabrics, knitted products, bags, etc.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Fur-skins have been conventionally used for various products such as clothing, carpeting, decorations and cushions. Depending on the applications, the skins are cut into desired shapes and the cut pieces are either sewn or glued together and made into a final form of products.
Scissors or knives are hitherto used to cut fur-skins into desired shapes. However, since fur-skins have thick fur on the skins (the leather), it is difficult to cut them into the shapes we want or to cut them into extremely thin elongated strips or strands. It is also difficult to make the cut areas smooth and even. Moreover, it is impossible not only to align the fur in the direction we want to cut but also to cut only the skins (the leather portions) without cutting any of the aligned fur (or hair). When the fur-skin is cut into thin strips by conventional cutters, the fur near the cutting line will be cut away at the same time. Thus, we are unable to manufacture fur-skin strips which have uniform and thick fur by machines. Since it is not practical industrially to cut fur-skins into thin elongated strips or strands by hands, no one in the past attempted to get into mass production of the yarn-like fur-skin strips due to these drawbacks.